


Best Christmas Gift

by ethanchristopher



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Flirting, Christmas, Christmas at Hogwarts, Cuddling & Snuggling, Flirting, Gay Draco Malfoy, Gryffindor Common Room, Hand & Finger Kink, Hogwarts Common Room, Hogwarts Seventh Year, M/M, Platonic Cuddling, bi harry potter, it’s my kink not harry’s, kind of?? don’t judge, maybe idk close to that probably, sort of starts platonic? who knows, this is self indulgent anyway, yeah I know it’s after christmas but w/e
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:08:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22182328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ethanchristopher/pseuds/ethanchristopher
Summary: Harry stays at Hogwarts for the holidays. So does Draco. Shenanigans ensue, chocolate frogs are shared, and romance begins budding.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Kudos: 99





	Best Christmas Gift

Tucked away in a corner of the common room, Harry found himself wedged between two arms of a faded red chair reading a book Hermione had recommended. It was dreadfully dull, yet he had nothing better to do with his time. He was offered a spot in the Burrow with the Weasley's for the Winter Holiday, but he had declined politely. It was no question of whether or not he loved being with his friends, and the Weasley's were practically family. There was something itching in the back of his mind, however. Some small part of him that needed to be alone, needed the time to think without outside influence. Simply to sit in the common room next to the fireplace and read.

Harry shifted positions and set his book aside, unable to become comfortable. Seamus, who had also stayed behind for the holidays, jogged past him. "Oi Harry, about supper time? You should come eat." Harry nodded thankfully and stood up, stretching. He slipped on a pair of shoes and last year’s Weasley Christmas sweater over his shirt, then began walking down to the Great Hall.

When he walked in, Harry was greeted with one table as opposed to the usual four. Dumbledore stood as more students walked in, and said, "Because we have so few students this holiday, we have elected to merge the House Tables. You may sit by any student of any house until the end of the holiday season." Harry could have sworn the smile playing on the man’s face was directed at him, but he couldn't be sure. It was always something different with the Headmaster. Perhaps he was simply hoping Harry would make more friends.

Harry sat down next to Seamus who was in turn seated next to a girl from Hufflepuff whom he himself didn't know. He started to pile food on his plate, following suit of the other students.

He stood to reach a plate across the table when another student reached across at the same time. It was then that Harry Potter found himself nose to nose with Draco Malfoy. Perfect hair, robes pressed, eyes alight Draco Malfoy.

"Merlin, Potter! Can't you look where you reach instead of trying to headbutt me?" Draco asked indignantly. Harry rolled his eyes and moved past Draco to grab what he had wanted in the first place. He sat back down and ignored the Slytherin boy. "What? Cat got your tongue now,  Potter ?"

"Malfoy, let me enjoy my holiday, will you? I'm not in the mood." The usual bite of Harry’s words were missing, a sleep-deprived resignation replacing any real malice. Draco's sneering expression faded, and he inched back down into his seat. He remained silent, eyes unconsciously scanning back to Harry.

As he watched the Gryffindor, he noticed how Harry’s shoulders seemed locked forward with tension. He noticed the dark circles under his eyes. He noticed just how green Harry’s eyes were when they lit up at a joke, how as the dinner went on, as Harry spoke to the friends around him, his smile became easier and more sure.

Draco opened his mouth to speak but all that his voice allowed was a soft noise of conflicted uncertainty.

“Erm... Potter?” he mustered, speaking up between the end and beginning of two concurrent stories from Seamus.

Harry’s eyes snapped up, narrowed in distrust. He said nothing but cocked his head at the flushed expression of the Slytherin boy in front of him, his lack of trust faltering.

“Harry, er... Here.”

Draco held forth a boxed chocolate frog, looking away with pink plastering his pale cheeks.

“Don’t go thinking this is some act of kindness, my mother sent me more than any wizard could eat and you probably need it more seeing as you’re stuffing yourself so improperly.” He ended the statement with a sniff but his hand remained outstretched, the chocolate still being offered.

Harry took it gingerly, unwrapping it to find Dumbledore’s card. He pinched the chocolate frog by its back leg and ate it quickly, looking back up to give Draco a grateful smile. He had bits of the sweet stuck in his teeth and it took all the dignity left in the Malfoy not to crack with laughter.

From there, it was undeniably easier. Harry asked why Draco was at school rather than home, received quite the mockingly snobbish answer, and laughter at Draco’s own expense ensued. Their goblets filled several times of pumpkin juice and their plates shifted from main course to dessert and they picked at the food unconvincingly, the evening drawing them ever more interested in one another.

They recalled antics of the past, citing the beginning of the year as far away as their very first months at Hogwarts.

“I can’t believe anyone though someone as hair-brained as you could be the heir of Salazar Slytherin!” Draco guffawed, letting out a laugh that might be better described as a snort. Harry joined in the laughter, only able to agree.

“Hermione knew far more than Ron or me, if she could speak to snakes everyone would’ve pointed fingers elsewhere!”

Seamus and the girl from Hufflepuff had long since gone back to their respective common rooms, Draco and Harry talking unaware of the Great Hall clearing of students. Only a few others remained when Professor McGonagall announced the hall was closing for the night.

As they stood and met at the end of the table, before Harry could part ways, Draco grabbed hold of his sleeve.

“Wait! Come... Come to the library with me?” Draco sounded unconvinced of his own words, but he did hope Harry would accept. It was the first time he truly felt as though he had spoken to Harry as a friend rather than an enemy, so sue him if he shouldn’t want it to end so soon.

"Malfoy, I’m not so sure...” he trailed off, eyes fixed on where the other boy’s hand still held his sweater, warm fingers brushing the top of his hand. That touch was tender, almost innocent.

Draco nearly bristled, a silent plea in his eyes. Moving his gaze from Harry’s face to where he grasped the fabric of Harry’s sleeve, he softened his grip. He pulled back slowly letting his hand brush Harry’s hand for just a moment too short. He offered a small smile, and upon seeing it, Harry felt his heart pound.

"Alright. Okay. You’ve convinced me,” Harry admitted, retracting his hand and touching where Draco’s hand had been. He hoped he wasn’t being too obvious with the gesture. Draco noticed.

They came upon the library doors, the entrance decorated with holly and colored candles. Harry placed his hands in his pockets, falling behind Draco as they entered the wide foyer. The fireplaces gave the room a glow not unlike the Gryffindor common room. "So what did we need to come to the library for?” Harry asked as Draco turned back to him.

"Maybe I was hoping to study, I could really help improve that Potions score of yours,” Draco remarked, making his way to a loveseat in front of the fire. He motioned for Harry to follow, smile teasing and light.

Harry followed and they sat on either side, facing inward. “Very funny, and I might take you up on it. If you tell me why you actually invited me?”

"This is something eleven year old Draco dreamed of. Being Harry Potter’s friend. Spending time with him, teasing him. Joking around with The Boy Who Lived,” Draco murmured, tone suddenly softer. He looked much older then, Harry realized. They both must have. The reflections of their younger selves miles apart, yet there they sat on the same sofa.

Draco continued, “I spent all my time trying to be perfect. At one point maybe I was trying to seem like a perfect friend, someone you would want to talk to. When that didn’t work, maybe I did try to focus on being the perfect prat, at least get your attention. It become perfect son, perfect student... It’s exhausting being so perfect, Potter.” The joke was dry but it earned a laugh anyway.

“I guess what I’m saying is... If I had the chance I’d start over. Try to be better, try to see how hard things must have been and still are, for you...”

Harry instinctively leaned forward, drawing closer with each word. “Who decides if you get the chance to start over?”

That was a response Draco couldn’t have anticipated. He shook his head, not sure of the answer, if there  was  a right answer.

“Draco, we decide. I’m deciding.”

Harry stuck out his hand, not unlike when Draco had offered him the chocolate frog. He held it there, illuminated by firelight, the hand that could give the two a fresh start. All Draco had to do was take it.

And he did, cautiously. As if it could be a trick, an elaborate prank. Or a trick of he mind, only an illusion. But when he held Harry’s hand in his, it was real. It was tangible, the real thing.

“Friends?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

* * *

The tender moments and genuine forgiveness lasted only so long, giving way to the same laughter that had filled the Great Hall. The two boys were exiled from the library by Filch, grouching that students only come to the library to snog and ruin his evening. Draco and Harry rushed out into the hall, cheeks burning. Harry placed a finger to his lips and shushed the other boy, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the Gryffindor common room.

Draco’s cheeks kept burning the whole walk there.

The common room laid as warm as Harry had left it. The hours left of the night were slipping away like sand and while the fire still roared there were no students to be found.

The two boys hushed themselves enough to get past The Fat Lady, her nose scrunching at the noise but giving a nod of approval as she watched Harry’s fingers entwine between Draco’s.

The two found a chair far too small for two and squeezed into the space, the cushion giving way to them as if one of them had willed it just a bit bigger. Harry still held Draco’s hand, releasing his hold only to take it again in order to trace the lines on the other boy’s palm.

“Do you do this with all your friends, it’s embarrassing,” Draco sputtered, warmth flooding his face with every touch. He had only just gained this friend, and although his friendships thus far had been scarce he had still had them and was fairly certain they did not entail such affections.

Not that he was complaining.

Harry grinned and gave Draco his hand back, leaning as far back as their position would allow to stare at the ceiling. “I dunno,

sometimes I mess with Ron’s hands. His fingers are long like yours, but not as thin. My Aunt calls those pianist fingers. Dainty. Beautiful, even.”

His thoughts wandered aloud and when he came back to himself, he was mortified. Had he said that? Had Draco heard? Sure, he’d had a crush on Draco when they were thirteen, maybe again at sixteen, but that had passed, he had been almost certain. Besides, who hadn’t crushed on the blond?

“Potter, honestly...” Draco was embarrassed but not unnerved. Harry was fit and kind and popular, maybe Draco had even wanted to be more than his friend at one point. Maybe that want never really ended. Besides, who hadn’t had a thing for The Chosen One?

Harry sat up again to look at Draco, their faces equally red, their demeanors flustered, Draco at least keeping his composure. But after a moment of silence, Harry snickered, and that was all it took to break the quiet.

They covered their mouths with tight hands, stifling laughter and curling into one another in place of doubling over.

“God, I’m sorry, that was... Inappropriate,” Harry finally mustered, pushing the laughter down. Draco ran his hand through his hair, letting his head fall against the other boy.

“I’m not dainty, Harry. Not beautiful either. If you’re going to compliment me, at least call me handsome.”

Harry’s hand reached up to touch Draco’s shoulder and when he was met with no resistance, with no recoil, he traced a finger down Draco’s arm, finishing at his hands.

“Alright... Your fingers are handsome,” Harry replied, pleased as Draco’s nose scrunched with feigned displeasure.

Draco was truly pleased but if he showed it, Harry might continue to say moronic things to make him smile. Though it would work, he couldn’t have that. “Ah, much better. Honestly, how can you expect to woo someone if you have no idea how to compliment them properly?”

Harry held back a laugh and responded, “What does it matter how I compliment someone else when I’m only trying to woo you?”

Oh.

Oh .

“Harry?” Draco asked, cheeks pink once again but concern in his expression. Harry had frozen, unmoving and mouth pressed tightly shut.

“Harry, it’s alright,” he murmured, cupping the boy’s cheek. That much have been enough, because Harry unfroze, no less unspeaking.

Draco let out a gentle breath and rolled his eyes goodheartedly. “Potter, honestly, all of Hogwarts knows we danced around one another for so long. This was bound to happen.”

Letting out a nervous laugh, Harry placed his hand over the one rested on his cheek. “I didn’t know you felt the same. I’m not even sure I knew I felt this way.” He laughed again, a little more sure of himself. He relaxed to Draco’s touch, warmth from his hands and the fire seeming to reach the center of him to spread all the way to his toes.

“We just became friends and I’ve already made things weird,” Harry mumbles, worried he may have fumbled something he can’t repair. Draco shushes him and smiles gently.

“Not weird, just... Yeah, weird, maybe. It’s fine. Not like everything isn’t as well.”

Harry laughs at that, a real laugh, nervousness faded. Draco ruffles his hair a bit, no distinction from its regular ruffled nature.

With a deep breath in and then out Harry says, “Maybe instead of starting over as friends, we just... See where this takes us?”

Draco nods instantly, perhaps too enthusiastic but how could he care? They curl back in as they had been at the start, Draco adjusting to lay his head against Harry.

“I’d like that very much. Best Christmas gift you could get me, in fact.”

**Author's Note:**

> blah blah basically this has been a wip for ages (started it on quotev if that tells you anything) and I randomly decided to bust it out tonight and finish!! not quite how I imagined it ending but I like it a lot, might write a new chapter one day if I feel particularly inspired but for now please enjoy and happy late (very late) christmas


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